I had the pleasure of shooting the breeze with BBC Radio 1xtra DJ Nick Bright. I hadn’t seen Nick since we worked on an event in 2012 in Ayia Napa called Fire On The Beach. It was great to reminisce about some of the artists we worked with, some who’ve gone on to be more recognised on the UK Grime scene. Acts involved included Lethal Bizzle, Wiley, Ghetts, Sneakbo and more, who we were trying to recall.
Nick has recently celebrated 10 years with his show on Radio 1xtra, a station I literally lock in to EVERY day!… true story. The music they play is all the stuff I love like Tory Lanez, Popcaan, Shenseea, Drake, Maxwell, Alicia Keys…. the list goes on. Notice none of the artists I have named there are British but Nick is a huge supporter of UK music and you will see in the YouTube video’s from our convo his 3 favourite albums are all British acts.
Let’s start with this first clip of us getting reacquainted and Nick telling us about his love of Dizzee Rascal and (randomly) The Rock.
Nick and I share a love of football. He is part of the BBC Sport team but is also employed by Arsenal and delivers a lot of the club interviews. It was great to hear about his love of Ian Wright and Dennis Bergkamp, It was also refreshing to hear someone say how it’s great to interview people who aren’t media trained and giving the “samey same” answers. Take a look in Nick’s own words.
Nick took part in The London Marathon in 2017 and loved being a part of the Royal Charity “Heads Together” so he got to meet and work with Prince William, Harry and Kate. The charity helped to raise funding and awareness for mental health. It was funny hearing Nick talk about how much his Mum loved Princess Diana (as do many Mum’s including mine) and how he got to “hang out” with her kids. Also fantastic to hear about how mental health awareness has become more open and access to support available which you can find on this blog too. I will use this opportunity to also mention former Arsenal and England Captain Tony Adams who runs a charity called Sporting Chance that gives access to supporting people in various ways and will include their details on the blog too.
When we got talking about music albums as I said earlier Nick made all UK artist choices – have a listen to his picks.
The whole chat with Nick was a lot of fun, however this discussion about choosing his fantasy celebrity dinner party really had me laughing as it was sounding so good when he started with Ian Wright and Trevor Nelson… but who else did he choose? Who would YOU choose?? Let me know!
We couldn’t not mention the UK Lockdown situation as it’s effecting everyone in different ways, As a regular listener to Nick’s BBC Radio 1xtra show I know how bored he has been. Have a listen to hear what he thinks about social media and what people have been posting during this time of “boredom” and remember #JustBeYouBabes
I like to finish shooting the breeze with a little quick fire question session. I love people’s reactions to the choices given and cannot help laughing.
As you can see and read I had an absolute blast catching up with Nick. I am still so nervous about this new blog project but it’s people like him that make me want to keep learning more and doing more. It also reminded me that despite not seeing each other in person for yeeeaaaarrrrsss we still have managed to keep in touch and keep things real.
I think it’s important to mention links to Mental Health support groups:
https://www.headstogether.org.uk
https://www.sportingchanceclinic.com
If you are needing to talk to someone please make sure you reach out, support is ready for you.
Nick is so real, although we had fun recording these videos there are some important messages we should take notice of.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read and view my latest edition, an extra special thanks to Nick Bright who is truly awesome!
Be Kind
AC
AC Shoots The Breeze 